Heard on the Hill: Hoyer Vet Welcomes New Addition

Stacey Farnen Bernards, a former deputy chief of staff to House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.), has once again traded debriefings for diaper duty, welcoming her third child, Emmeline Bell, on Jan. 11.

Bernards officially bid Hoyer, for whom she worked more than a decade, farewell in November to join Honeywell International as vice president of government relations.

According to Bernards, Emmeline gave fair warning of her imminent arrival. “She made it clear at 5 a.m. on Jan. 10 that she was on her way,” the mother of three explained, noting that she and her husband rolled out to the hospital at about 7 p.m.

Wondering who held the fort with Emmeline’s older siblings, Collette, 6, and almost-4-year-old Jack? That’d be clutch baby sitter and Roll Call alumna Erin Billings, who toasted with the expectant couple before the migration to the maternity ward.

Emmeline, all 8 pounds, 5 ounces of her, showed up at 1:06 a.m. Wednesday. Hoyer followed up with a congratulatory call while mom and baby were still recovering in the hospital — a simple courtesy that is paying immediate dividends.

“She joined her sister and brother in pledging loyalty to the Democratic Party at birth,” Bernards said of Emmeline’s non-negotiable political bent.